What You Need to Know About Investec Structured Products 🔍

Investec is not just a big name in South African banking and wealth management; they also offer Structured Products through the EasyEquities platform, providing investors with diversified investment options.

Structured Products are designed to meet a whole range of investor needs, balancing risk management with the chance for good returns. For anyone investing in South Africa, getting to grips with what these products offer is pretty important. In this article, we're going to dive deeper into what makes Investec Structured Products stand out, looking at both the good and the not-so-good sides.

1. Safe Investing with Capital Protection
   One of the best things about these products is that they help protect your money. Imagine you invest in something with a promise that even if things go bad, you won't lose all your money. Some products even promise to keep 80% to 100% of your investment safe. This is great for those who are a bit nervous about the ups and downs of the market.
   
   
2. Making More Money with Geared Returns
   These products have the potential to make your returns even bigger. For example, if the market does well, you could earn double the increase, up to a certain point. So, if the market goes up by 50%, you could earn 100%. But there's a cap, meaning if the market skyrockets, your earnings won't go beyond a certain maximum.

3. Lock-in Period
   These products are kind of like a long-term savings plan; you're meant to leave your money in them for three to five years. Ideally, you're not going to need to touch this money during that time. Life's full of surprises, though, and sometimes you might need to get your hands on your cash sooner than planned. While there are ways to sell your investment early, it's not always straightforward, and you might not get all your money back.

Is this really for me?

So, while there are certainly things to watch out for, Investec's Structured Products could be a potentially great tool in your investment toolkit. They offer a clear pay-off structure and come without unexpected fees—as long as you're aware of the risks and prepared to commit for the duration.

They're worth considering if you're okay with locking your money in for a few years and you understand the terms and potential outcomes. Just like any investment, it's a good idea to talk to a financial advisor to see if they fit into your overall investment plan.

More information on Structured Products
If you'd like to know more, Carel Nolte, our Chief Enablement Officer and John Sherry, Structured Products Specialist from Investec, talked about structured products briefly in this video.

John explains that traditionally, investors have three main options for investing: cash, bonds, and equities. Among these, equities have historically offered the best returns over the long run but come with higher risk, particularly in the short term where market downturns can lead to significant losses. Structured products are introduced as an investment vehicle designed to offer the best aspects of equity investments (the potential for high returns) with added measures for capital protection to mitigate the risk of losses.

The primary goal of structured products, according to John, is to link the investment to the performance of equity markets while providing a safety net against market falls. This is achieved by ensuring that if the market goes up, investors receive returns linked to this performance. However, if the market falls, there's an element of capital protection that helps avoid or mitigate losses. This dual feature aims to provide investors with exposure to the growth potential of equities while offering some protection against their inherent risks.

Did you know that Investec has new offering? You may want to take a look at our new listings here. 

Want to know more about the latest news?

Any opinions, news, research, reports, analyses, prices, or other information contained within this research is provided by an external contributor as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice for the purposes of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002. First World Trader (Pty) Ltd t/a EasyEquities (“EasyEquities”) does not warrant the correctness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or completeness of any information (i) contained within this research and (ii) received from third party data providers. You must rely solely upon your own judgment in all aspects of your investment and/or trading decisions and all investments and/or trades are made at your own risk. EasyEquities (including any of their employees) will not accept any liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage, including without limitation, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on the market commentary. The content contained within is subject to change at any time without notice.